Monday Evening, May 10, 1976
Richmond, Virginia
Ministry through Brother Stephen Kaung
We will return to 1 Samuel.
And it came to pass, from the day that the ark abode in Kiriath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.
And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your heart, then put away the strange gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts unto the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
Then the children of Israel did put away the Baalim and the Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only.
And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray unto the Lord for you.
And they gathered together to Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpah.
And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel: and when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines.
And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that He will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.
And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a whole burnt offering wholly unto the Lord: and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel; and the Lord answered him.
And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten down before Israel.
And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Beth-car.
Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.
So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more within the border of Israel: and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even unto Gath; and the border thereof did Israel deliver out of the hand of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.
And he went from year to year in circuit to Beth-el, and Gilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel in all those places.
And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house, and there he judged Israel: and there he built an altar unto the Lord.
There are many other passages that should be read, but, for the sake of time, we will probably turn to 1 Samuel 16.
And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill thy horn with oil, and go; I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided Me a king among his sons.
And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.
But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
Then Jesse made Abinadab to pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this.
Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this.
And Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these.
And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he come hither.
And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look upon. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him; for this is he.
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
Shall we pray?
Our heavenly Father, how we do rejoice in Thy presence, knowing that in Christ the veil was rent. Oh, how we praise and thank Thee that we need not come to Thee as if separated by a veil. But we may come to Thee and behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled face.
Oh, we do gaze upon Thy Christ, and we trust Thy Holy Spirit to transform us from glory to glory according to His image, that Thy name may be glorified. We commit this time into Thy hands and trust Thy working in our midst, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
We mentioned last night that in God’s work of recovery, the first principle is grace, exhibited in the life of Ruth. The second principle is prevailing prayer, demonstrated in the life of Hannah. And the third principle is revelation, shown to us in the life of Samuel.
Now, Samuel was epoch-making because through Samuel God was able to change the time: from the time of the judges to the time of the kings; from a time that was full of weakness and never entered into God’s full purpose, into a time when God’s king would be upon the throne.
For the first time after the children of Israel came out of Egypt, all that God had promised to their father Abraham was fully realized. So you find that, for the changing of the time, it was a tremendous transaction. Because of this transaction, God had to secure for Himself a special vessel for that purpose, and Samuel was that vessel.
Here, brothers and sisters, in a sense, we are living at the verge of a change. God is going to conclude this age. God is going to introduce the age to come. God is going to introduce to us the King—the King of kings and Lord of lords—to this earth.
But for the changing of our time, God is also looking for such epoch-making vessels. Today it is no longer an individual Samuel, because it is a much greater work to be done. Today God is looking for a corporate vessel in the spirit of Samuel.
In other words, God is today securing a people, as He did in Samuel. That is the reason why the story of Samuel is so important to us today. In the life of Samuel we are shown what God is trying to secure for Himself for the realization of His purpose in our time.
Last night we mentioned that the birth of Samuel was naturally supernatural. He was born naturally in one sense, and yet he was brought into the world through a supernatural intervention of God.
The same thing is true with us today. Unless we are born again, we cannot see the kingdom of God. Unless we are born through the intervention of God, through His grace in Christ Jesus, we will never be able to see the King or to bring in the King.
In the case of Samuel, his birth was God’s intervention, but it was also the result of his mother’s prevailing prayer. So often we find that the reason we are brought into new birth is because of some people who are willing to suffer in prevailing prayer for us.
Second, Samuel was set apart even before he was conceived. Through the vow of his mother, his mother vowed a vow before God and said, “God, if You will answer my prayer and give me a male child, I will give him to You.”
In our case, even when we were in our mother’s womb, God had set us apart. Even before the foundation of the world, He had chosen us in Christ. We need to know this.
After we are born again, we are to look back even to the time when we did not know God, but God knew us; even to the time when we could do nothing because we were still being formed in our mother’s womb, and yet God had already set us apart.
Even before the foundation of the world, before anything was formed, God had already chosen us in Christ Jesus. Dear brothers and sisters, this is sovereign grace. I do believe that the more we realize God’s sovereign grace, the more we will bow at His feet and worship Him, and the more constrained we will feel to present our bodies as a living sacrifice.
Therefore, the third thing is the weaning of Samuel. Samuel was weaned, and after he was weaned, he was brought to the house of God to worship and to minister unto the Lord in the temple.
So it speaks of us who have been miraculously born again, who were chosen by God and set apart for a special purpose. How we need to offer ourselves, that God’s purpose might be fulfilled in each of our lives and in our lives together.
Now we mentioned that Samuel had to grow. As he grew in the Lord, the Lord was able to reveal Himself to Samuel.
Today God’s people need to grow. How do we grow? What is the meaning of growing in the Lord? In Colossians, we find that we grow up into Him in all things. We grow up into Christ. That is spiritual growth.
As we grow up into Him in all things, then He is able to reveal Himself more to us and to equip us more for the fulfillment of His calling and our task upon this earth.
Tonight we would like to continue with the life of Samuel. We mentioned that when Samuel was a boy, one day God called him. God called him to be a prophet—a boy prophet.
But when God called him, he had no personal knowledge of God. His knowledge of God was more traditional. He had no personal touch with God at that time, so he did not know that it was God who was calling him.
He thought it was old Eli calling him for help in the night. So he got up, ran to Eli, and said, “You called me; here am I.” Eli said, “No, I have not called. Go back and sleep.”
The boy Samuel went back to sleep, and God called him again. Again he got up, ran to Eli, and said, “You called me; here am I.” Eli said, “Oh no, I have not called you. Go back to bed and sleep.” The third time, the same thing happened.
But the third time, Eli began to realize. It dawned upon Eli, because Eli was a person who had former experience of God. But, sad to say, his experience of God was in the old days. He was no longer living in a living experience of God.
It took three times for him to be awakened to the fact that God was calling Samuel. Finally, he told Samuel, “If you hear that voice again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth.’” Sure enough, God stood by Samuel and called him, “Samuel, Samuel.” So Samuel said, “Speak, Lord.” And God gave him a message.
Now, brothers and sisters, what is the basis of a prophet? A prophet is God’s mouthpiece. A prophet is to speak for God. A prophet is to deliver God’s message to His people. A prophet is one who knows God’s heart and is able to proclaim God’s will and God’s purpose to His own people.
We may think that, to be a prophet, the first basic requirement is a mouth, because the prophet is a mouth. But, dear brothers and sisters, this is not true. The first qualification of a prophet is an ear to hear.
“Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth.” The first qualification of a prophet is not a mouth. It does not depend upon how eloquent you are, how fluent you can speak, or how clever you can speak. To be a prophet, the first thing is that you have a hearing heart.
You can hear God speaking. The problem with God’s people today is that we talk too much, but we cannot hear. Now, when you are talking, are you able to hear?
It is only when you stop talking that your ear is open to hear. How impatient we are. How we talk and talk and talk and talk! We have no time to listen. We have no ear to hear God.
The ear here, of course, is not a physical ear. It is the spiritual ear; it is the heart. To be a prophet, you need to have a hearing heart, a heart that can hear God. You can hear God speaking. That is the first basic requirement of a prophet.
The second thing, of course, is that once you have heard, you should be a mouth that can deliver the word of God without altering it and without diluting it.
Oftentimes you feel that God may have spoken, and yet when you begin to utter it, it is diluted. Sometimes it is altered because the vessel is not pure, the channel is not pure, and the channel is not broken enough for God to go through without suffering loss.
How important it is that we really be like a broken vessel, like a pure channel, so that when the word of the Lord comes, it will not be altered or diluted in any way.
In the case of Samuel, you find that even when he was a boy, when God first delivered that message to him, it was a heavy message. It was not a pleasant message.
But when Eli asked him to tell him the truth and hold back nothing, the boy Samuel was able to be faithful to all that he had heard. He did not change a word—not to please man, but to please God. These are the qualifications and qualities of the prophet.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, of course, we are not all called to be prophets. By the way, do you know that a prophet does not primarily mean one who predicts? A prophet is to forth-tell as well as to foretell the mind of God.
As a matter of fact, the telling forth of the mind of God is more essential than foretelling the will of God. We may not all be called to be prophets, but we can all prophesy.
In 1 Corinthians 14, you find that we can all prophesy. By prophesying there, it does not mean that you can predict. It simply means that you can encourage, comfort, and exhort.
Sometimes the Lord may give you a word. Sometimes the Lord may convey to you a message. Sometimes the Lord may speak to you, and because you are comforted, you may be able to comfort others. You are encouraged, and you may be able to encourage others. You are edified, and you may be able to edify your brothers and sisters.
But remember: not because God may use you sometimes to encourage, console, and admonish are you therefore a prophet. You are not. You are not.
That is the wonder of the New Testament. We are not all called to be prophets, and yet we may all prophesy if we speak the Lord, if we see the Lord.
So, dear brothers and sisters, when God’s people come together, how we need the exercise of prophecy. How we need to encourage one another, exhort one another, and comfort one another.
In order to do that, let us have an ear to hear first of all. Then, after we have heard, try to be faithful in telling forth the mind of God.
Samuel was called to be a prophet, and he started in a small way. God gave him an old message, a message that had already been delivered to Eli years ago by a man of God.
It was a negative message. It was a message of tearing down—the tearing down of the house of Eli because Eli was unfaithful. His house would be torn down. But, of course, without being torn down, how can you be built up?
More and more, as the word of God came to Samuel, it became more and more positive. But the words of God began to come to Samuel until all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, knew that God had raised up a prophet among them in the person of Samuel.
God saw to it that whatever Samuel said came to pass. That is the test of the prophet. Whether you are really sent by God depends upon whether what is spoken is fulfilled. God saw to it that everything Samuel said came to pass, so all Israel knew that Samuel was a prophet—God’s mouthpiece, telling forth the mind of God to His own people.
Now remember, brothers and sisters, what was the spiritual condition of the children of Israel at that time? Just one thing could tell you their spiritual condition: the ark of God was taken captive by the Philistines. The glory of God had left the children of Israel.
God would rather have His ark captured than remain with the children of Israel. The children of Israel could not keep the ark of God, but God was able to protect Himself in the land of the Philistines.
After seven months, the Philistines simply could not bear the presence of the ark of God. The ark of God should be a pleasure to God’s own people, but it is a terror to the world.
The presence of God, the glory of God, is the delight of God’s people. What do we desire more than God’s presence with us, more than His glory? Is that not everything that we want? This is our delight. This is our desire.
But to the world, the presence of God is a terror. They just could not stand it. Wherever the ark moved, the city would rise up and say, “Take it away! Take it away, or we will die!”
After seven months, the ark came back by itself. The children of Israel did not bring back the ark; God brought His ark back. In other words, the children of Israel allowed the ark to be captured, but God had not forsaken His people. God wanted to come back. Do you see the heart of God?
God’s people gave Him up, but God minded. He wanted to come back, so He came back. But when He came back, what did they do to the ark?
They put the ark in Kiriath-jearim, that is, the fields of the forest. They put the ark in the fields of the forest, and it was forgotten for twenty years.
The ark was back in the land of Israel, but it never returned to the tent of Shiloh. It was just put aside in the forest, hidden and forgotten for twenty long years.
Can you imagine the spiritual condition of the children of Israel at that time? Was not the ark of God the center of their life? Yet even with the ark there, they did not care. They allowed it to be hidden, and for twenty years it was hidden there.
That was the spiritual condition of God’s people. What darkness! What deadness! The tent of Shiloh was still there. The priests were still there. They offered sacrifices, but there was no ark to receive the sacrifice. Think of that. And the children of Israel did not care.
But thank God, during those twenty long years Samuel prophesied. Samuel exercised his prophetic ministry faithfully. In spite of such adverse situations, he faithfully exercised his prophetic ministry until, after twenty long years, he was able to turn the hearts of the children of Israel back to God. Wonderful!
Now that is prophetic ministry. What is the ministry of the prophet? A prophetic ministry is not merely to predict something or to draw people to oneself as though one were a wonderful man who could foretell something. Not at all.
A prophetic ministry is a ministry that can speak the mind of God to His people. Sometimes it can be very heavy; it can be very strong. Yet the effect of it is that the hearts of God’s people begin to turn back to God. That is prophetic ministry.
How we need such ministry today. How we need people who have given themselves so much to God that God is able to speak through them, and through their speaking the hearts of God’s children are turned back to God.
After twenty years, Samuel gathered them together at Mizpah and said, “Turn your hearts to God. Turn away from all the idols. If you turn to God with your whole heart, God will turn to you.” That is prophetic ministry—Samuel as a prophet.
You know, in a sense Samuel is the first prophet in the whole school of prophets. It is true that Enoch was a prophet, Noah was a prophet, Abraham was a prophet, and Moses was a prophet. Before Samuel, there were many prophets.
But in a very strict sense, Samuel was the first prophet in the whole line of prophets. He was the last of the judges and the first of the prophets. You can see the prophetic ministry that he faithfully exercised.
Samuel was not only a prophet; he was a priest. He gathered the children of Israel to Mizpah, and there they poured water before the Lord. They confessed their sin to show that from their hearts they had really turned to God.
Pouring water is symbolic of pouring out their souls before God in affliction. As they poured out their hearts to God, Samuel was able to offer a burnt offering to God.
But the Philistines heard about that and came up to attack them. Even Samson was raised by God to deliver the children of Israel from the Philistines, but he did not completely deliver them. As a matter of fact, he died among the Philistines.
So the Philistines were still in ascendancy over the children of Israel. When the children of Israel heard that the Philistines were coming, they were terrified. They asked Samuel not to cease praying for them.
Now they had turned to God. They trusted God to deliver them because they had no strength in themselves. Samuel offered a burnt offering to God to show that the children of Israel had completely turned to God, and he prayed for them. God thundered and discomfited the Philistines, and subdued them.
The functions of a priest are manifold, but the highest function of a priest is the work of intercession—prayer. That is the highest work of a priest.
Even in the tabernacle and temple of God, you find that priests served in many different positions. They served at the altar of burnt offering. They served at the golden lampstand. They served at the golden table of showbread. But the highest function of a priest is when they offer incense at the golden altar of incense.
The highest function of a priest is prayer—to make intercession before God. Here you find Samuel as one who exercised his priestly function in the highest order: he was a man of prayer.
Samuel was born through his mother’s prayer, and in turn he became a man of prayer. You remember Psalm 99:6: Moses and Aaron were among His priests, and Samuel was among those who called upon His name. They called upon the Lord, and He answered them.
Samuel was a person who knew how to pray. His whole life was immersed in prayer. Oh, you see the power of prayer! Samson was a person with great physical prowess, but he was not able wholly and completely to subdue the Philistines. Samuel was not physically a giant, and yet through prayer he was able to subdue the Philistines.
What is our spiritual power? Our spiritual power is power before God, and power before God is through prayer.
Paul said that our weapons are not of flesh and blood. Our weapon is being powerful before God, to bring every high thing and everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
There is tremendous power in prayer. Samuel was a true priest. He knew how to pray, and how God answered his prayer. Throughout his life, he prayed, he prayed, he prayed.
Because of his prayer, God defeated the Philistines. So he raised up a pillar and called it Ebenezer: “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” The Lord has helped us.
Probably you know that there was a mission, which has changed its name now, called the China Inland Mission—CIM. The China Inland Mission was founded by Hudson Taylor, and many missionaries came to China through that mission. God used them to open up the interior of China to the gospel.
We Chinese are forever grateful for what God has done through the China Inland Mission. The China Inland Mission had two mottos. One motto was, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” The other motto was, “Jehovah-jireh”—the Lord provides.
What an experience: through prayer, you come to know that the Lord has helped you. If the Lord is helping you, who can withstand you? That is an important thing, especially in the functioning of a priest.
Samuel was not only a prophet and priest; he was also a judge. He was the last of the judges. He judged the children of Israel.
He had his home in Ramah, but every year he made a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, Mizpah, and returned to Ramah. In other words, he held his court in these four different places.
It is very interesting if you know what these principal places represent. Bethel means “the house of God.” Gilgal means “rolling away.” Mizpah means “watchtower.” Ramah means “high.”
In other words, spiritually speaking, when Samuel judged the children of Israel, he did not judge them according to what he felt. He judged them according to that high standard of God. That was his judgment.
In a sense, Samuel is a type of Christ, because our Lord Jesus is Prophet, Priest, and King. He is the Prophet sent by God to this earth, not only to declare the Father to us, but to demonstrate the Father to us. He who has seen Him has seen the Father; he who hears Him hears the Father.
Our Lord Jesus is the Prophet, and He is the Priest. He is now at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us. He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to the Father through Him.
He is the coming King. He is coming back to rule upon this earth for His Father. Oh, how we need to listen to Him, because He is the Prophet. How we need to seek His help, because He is the Priest. How we need to obey His rule, because He is the King—the King of kings and Lord of lords.
In this sense, Samuel is a type of Christ because he is prophet, priest, and judge. Brothers and sisters, if we are united with Christ, we are also prophets, priests, and kings.
The Bible tells us very clearly that He has washed us with His blood and has made us kings and priests unto God. We are to function in all these three areas.
We are called to function as people who tell forth Christ, as people who function as priests and bring people to God, and as people who are kings who rule and govern for the will of God, that His kingdom may come.
In our very small sense, you find that this can be applied to us today. How the Lord desires to raise up people like Samuel, who will fulfill all these functions.
All these functions were only a preparation, preparing the way for that purpose that God had called Samuel to fulfill.
When he was a boy, God set him apart, and he started to serve in the house of God. When he grew up, he became prophet, priest, and judge. How faithful he was.
Finally, he came to his old age. He had served the Lord faithfully all his years, but now he was getting old. He did not have the physical strength to travel around and judge the people anymore. Therefore, he appointed his two sons to help him.
But his two sons did not walk in his ways. They even took bribes and did not judge justly. Finally, the elders of Israel came to Samuel and said, “We want a king, like all the other nations.”
They said, “You are too old to judge us, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Therefore, give us a king like the nations. We need a king.”
Have we not said from the very beginning that God raised Samuel as a special vessel to change the time? Did we not say that Samuel was raised by God for one purpose, and that was to bring in God’s king?
For in that king, all God’s purposes with Israel would be fulfilled. Samuel was a prophet, a priest, and a judge, and he exercised all these functions until he was old. Yet he never gave Israel a king.
Not only did he not give Israel a king, but when he was too old to judge, he made his two sons his successors. Had he forgotten? Had he forgotten why God raised him up? Was he so busy with all these different duties that he forgot the very reason why God raised him up?
Did he not know? Certainly he knew. Even his mother, you remember in Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2, prayed concerning the king and the anointed.
Even when God prophesied about Samuel, God said, “I will raise Me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in My heart and in My mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before Mine anointed for ever.”
Certainly Samuel knew that he was raised up by God to conclude one dispensation and bring in a new dispensation—to conclude the judgeship and bring in the kingship. Yet, strange to say, he seemed to perpetuate the judgeship by appointing his two sons to succeed him.
In a sense, we are all human. Samuel was a human being. How easy it is for a human being to tend to perpetuate something through which God has used him, instead of seeing that he is not the ultimate. The ultimate is the King.
How often we want to perpetuate our ministry. How often we want to continue with what God has used us to do. Instead of seeing that these things are only leading to the ultimate of God, we try to perpetuate them.
What have we done? How we can be so occupied that we forget what God is really after. Well, that is a possibility. But I would rather believe that this was not the case with Samuel.
Why? Because Samuel was a person who knew God. He knew God in such a deep way that I cannot imagine he would forget the very purpose of the calling of God.
Rather, he was a person who would never try to initiate anything on his own. Even his appointment of his two sons was not permanent; they were only to help him because he was too old. He did not mean to say that judgeship should be perpetuated.
But because God had not spoken to him, because God had not shown him who the king was, Samuel was in no position to take the initiative and give Israel a king.
Oh, the long patience of God! You know how impatient we are. If we know the end for which God raised us up, then we try to make it work. God always seems to be too slow.
Abraham waited and waited, but the promised son did not come. So his wife said, “God needs a little help.” Abraham agreed to that. Otherwise, how could God’s promise be fulfilled?
What a temptation we have! Oh, we want to help God. But God does not need our help.
I think Samuel understood. He knew that God was going to conclude the judgeship, but probably he wondered why God had never told him. Yet because God had never told him, he could not move. He could not move.
Oh, brothers and sisters, never make a move on your own.
Because Samuel did not make that move, the elders of Israel could not wait any longer. I believe God had a purpose in this. God often uses time to test the hearts of the people, to bring out what is in our hearts. Time is a good test.
God just let the situation continue. God waited and waited to test whether the children of Israel could wait for His King. If they could not wait, then it would reveal what kind of king they really wanted.
If God should give them God’s King, they would not appreciate Him, because they wanted their king. So God said, “Let you have your king first. After you have had enough of him, then I will give you My King.” That is the way God always works.
In the longsuffering of God, the children of Israel could not stand it any longer. They came to Samuel and said, “We want a king, but after the manner of the nations.”
Samuel was displeased. Not merely because he was hurt—of course, as a human being, how could he not be hurt when he was rejected? But I do not believe Samuel was displeased simply because he was personally hurt.
Samuel knew that in rejecting him, they were actually rejecting God as their King. Yet Samuel did not simply refuse outright. No, he brought this matter to God in prayer.
Sometimes, if anything displeases us, we simply say, “Enough.” But perhaps God will permit such things, even though they are not God’s will. We need to bring it to God in prayer and see the mind of God.
Samuel went to God and prayed. God said, “They are not rejecting you; they are rejecting Me as their King. They do not want Me to be their King, so they cannot wait for My King to come. They want a king after the manner of the nations.”
“Well, if they insist on it, give it to them. But tell them what kind of king they will have if they want a king like the kings of the nations.”
God granted their request, but sent leanness into their soul. Oh, brothers and sisters, if we insist, God will give us what we ask for. But woe unto us if God gives it to us.
I cannot help but mention again the prayer of M. E. Barber. She was a strong-willed woman, and oftentimes God had a mind concerning something and she did not agree with God.
But her prayer was, “Lord, have patience with me. Do not give it to me. Just wait; I will turn around.”
Because they insisted, God gave them the king they desired. He was not a king of God’s choosing; he was a king after the manner of the nations.
The king after the manner of the nations is one who would take away their sons and daughters and make them his servants and handmaids; who would take away the best of their fields and give them to his favorites; who would make them soldiers to fight for him; and who would take tithes from them to enrich himself.
That is the kind of king after the manner of the nations. God said, “If you want a king, you will have such a king.” They still wanted a king, so they received Saul.
Saul was not bad at all. Saul was a person who had many good qualities. We are not going into Saul in detail, because we could spend an hour on it. But you find that Saul was a good man. He had his weak points, but he was a good man.
All his weak points began to reveal themselves after he became king. Then what was in him began to be revealed. He was simply a man of the flesh. A man of the flesh cannot understand God and will not obey God. That was Saul.
But what is God’s King? You remember how, among the disciples of our Lord Jesus, they often quarreled among themselves over one problem: who was the greatest?
They thought that if they gained the highest position, then they could sit there, give orders, and everybody would obey them and do what they wanted. That is the worldly concept of kingship.
But the Lord said, “It shall not be so among you. If you want to be the greatest, you have to be the least. If you want to be the highest, you have to be the bondservant of everybody. Because the Son of Man did not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
That is kingship. Spiritual kingship is not sitting high up, giving commands and making demands. Spiritual kingship is taking the lowest position and ministering. The king is to serve.
Oh, what a King we have! This is our Lord. What a King we have—the King after God’s own heart.
Up to the old age of Samuel, finally that which God had called him to do came to pass. But before he was able to do that, something, as it were, came in between. Saul was anointed king first.
God gave Saul every opportunity to be the king after God’s own heart. The Spirit of God came upon him and changed him into another man. The Spirit of God came upon him and used him to defeat the Ammonites.
Yet God gave him test after test, and he failed in every test. He could not wait. The flesh can never wait.
He could not carry out the will of God because he considered God’s will foolish. “Why kill all the good cattle and sheep? Why not keep them and use them?” Because of that, God rejected him.
He was the king that the people asked for, not the king that God gave to the children of Israel.
But Samuel had such a history with Saul. He loved Saul so much that he never ceased to pray for Saul. Even after God told Samuel that He had rejected Saul, and Samuel never saw Saul again, he mourned for Saul.
He was so attached to Saul. That was the trouble. Saul was his first love, you know. God gave them Saul, but Saul could not make it. Samuel was still mourning because Saul did not make it.
Samuel had tried his best to help Saul make it, but Saul did not make it. He mourned for Saul until God had to say, “Stop mourning. Do not be so attached to the one whom I have rejected. Go ahead and anoint the one whom I am going to choose.”
Oh, you have to move on, brothers and sisters. You cannot remain attached to the past that is rejected by God. You have to move on with God.
So God sent him to Bethlehem, there to anoint David. Again, you find Samuel made a mistake. Saul was a man of great stature, head and shoulders above all the children of Israel.
When Jesse brought his eldest son, Eliab, before Samuel, Samuel said, “That must be the one,” because he was like Saul. Samuel’s heart was still attached to Saul. Eliab was like Saul, so Samuel thought, “This must be God’s anointed.”
But God does not look at our outward appearance. God looks upon the heart. Even there, Samuel had to learn.
After seven sons had passed before him, Samuel said, “God has not chosen any of these. Do you have any more sons?” There was David. When David came, God said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.”
Of course, we will not go into David. But you find that Samuel finally performed the work that God had raised him up to do. He brought in David.
Oh, how difficult it is! For a change of time, it is very difficult. Even during the change of time, there can be a digression—Saul’s kingship. But thank God, David was anointed.
After many years, finally David ascended to the throne. The change was made.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we are living on the verge of such a change. Do not think the change is easy. Such change is very difficult, very difficult.
The change involves much travail, much turmoil, and much opposition. The enemy will come. The flesh will come in and try to interrupt.
But thank God, His will shall be done. His purpose must be done. That is the reason why God is today looking for a vessel, a people like Samuel, who will go on, go on.
In spite of all the sufferings, all the years, all the pains and sorrows, Samuel was faithful to God until the king was anointed. May the Lord make us like Samuel.
Our heavenly Father, we do ask Thee to show us, through the life of Thy servant Samuel, what Thou art looking for in us to fulfill.
O Lord, make us faithful to our calling. Do not allow us to be forgetful, nor to be distracted by other good things. But there is one purpose, one thing, set before us, and that is bringing in the King.
O Lord, make this purpose unchanging, that we may press on unto the King. Yes, prosper it. O Lord, do help us, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.